Tuesday, September 30, 2008

At first I thought I was missing something as I've been chatting with Josh on his way to Maui. He seemed to be doing more of a world tour of airports rather than traveling to Maui.

Now on his second day of travel from Orlando to Maui, I finally put it all together.

I know he saved some dough booking the flight this way, but really ... how much could it really have saved or is he just trying to slam some miles in to get elite status? (which I can appreciate!)

So, Orlando to Maui is about 4,680 miles. Josh's route took him 6,686 miles - roughly 2,000 miles more than the more direct route. Hmmm, 2,000 miles - roughly the distance from Green Bay to San Francisco.

Wow. Then again, I'm sure he's got some good stories from his travels... he always does. ;-)

Yup - the fall winds are blowing. But here's the kicker - this isn't that windy for this time of year. Amazingly, the southerly winds that usually precede a frontal passage like this are usually way windier. Typically gale to storm force SW to S winds that can rock the lake at 14 foot + and send even the large freighters running to port to ride out the blow.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

There's nothing like a good sendoff. Sometimes its a party, perhaps some streamers (ala "Love Boat") and sometimes its the wind gods giving a little love before an epic trip.

In this case, its the latter.

Remember, I'm leaving Thursday morning for the long haul to Maui (though not nearly as long as Chris and Heather who are coming from Newcastle, UK with little Myla!) ... and as you can see in the post prior to this one, I'm all packed and ready to go.

That's all gonna change.

As I said, I'm NOT going to leave early, but I'm gonna get epic conditions. Remember the other option that might present itself? Well, it has.

Tuesday we're supposed to get some good afternoon winds, and Wednesday the winds are supposed to crank. And not just any wind, but north winds. Due north. And for a wave hound like me, that means Lake Michigan is gonna crank up some 35 knot gales with 6-9 foot swell and a little place called Sheboygan is gonna fire. Sure, Maui will be warmer, sunnier and all around more hospitable than Wisconsin, but for those of you who've rocked the lake on a north wind AND been to Maui, we all have a hard time deciding which is better.

The fun part - its port tack. 100% reverse of the winds/conditions on Maui. Clean, down the line sailing on the lew side of the breakwater with 10+ turns per wave. I'm sure the local surfing crew will be out en force as well, and those guys are the most hardcore surfers you'll find on the planet on terms of the cold water/air that they'll go out in.

Sure I'll most likely be in my "super suit" (goretex dry suit) and have to stop every hour or so to warm up, but inside, I'll be burning a stoke that rivals how I feel on Maui.

So, I'll be headed to Maui on Thursday with wet gear in the bags. I love that feeling. ;-)

The header shot is from a few years ago on a small 5.7 day with chest high surf at Sheboygan.

Board : RRD 99 liter Wavetwin.Josh is drooling to get this in the washout surf at Uppers to see what it can do. Me? I'm thinking Hoo will be a blast on this board - and I'll love the extra liters when I screw up and end up in the wind shadow just off the rocks. (grin)

Packed up for easy transport. Ready to go! The quiver bag it just at the airline max weight, provided they don't lower it again this coming week.

The best part is my clothing bag. Sure I'm gonna be there for 10+ days or so, but with Maui, all you need are a few board shorts, t-shirts and flip flops. That is running with me as a carry on. If I wasn't taking gear, I'd not be checking anything, and its kinda enticing to head to the island without any checked bags.

In my lifetime, I've been known to do (ahem) silly things in order to sail. Usually I hold back on these actions until conditions are epic (or close enough to count) and then I bring out the big guns and pull the trigger on whatever needs to happen to get on the water and get it. Its obsessive as I'm focussed on the prize and will do whatever it takes to claim it. (read : possible personality flaw)

Over the years, hmmmm, how many flights changed .... too many to count. Then there was that "lift ticket" purchase of a 3.7 one day to get out in epic Gorge conditions. Expedited shipping on all sorts of gear, late meeting changes to open up time windows to sail, there was that quick trip to Maui to score two days of 24-28 foot swell, and the list goes on and on...

This week is one of those situations. I'm not leaving for Maui until Thursday, but there's a decent swell starting Tuesday, which will be 6-7 foot on Wednesday. Thursday, (while I'm airborn) the swell will start to recede and Friday (my first chance to sail) the swell will be residual.

Did I mention I'm a swell hound?? ;-)

So, you see the obvious problem. I need to get to Maui earlier. Doh!

Using miles + cash, its easily done, but I'm not gonna do it.

Why?

For one of the first times EVER, I'm going to use restraint and not change up my plans in order to score a sesh.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Ok, so its nothing major, but we have some decent 4-5 foot NW swell arriving on the islands by Tuesday and there's enough activity in the northern Pacific to keep things rolling for at least a week from the initial models.

Sweet!

I have to admit - there's nothing worse than being on Maui with only windswell. Yeah, yeah, I know. Waaaahh waaahhh. Poor folks suffering on Maui without swell. Sure we go to Maui for the trades, but the reason I go to Maui is for the winter swell.

Heck, I can go lots of places for wind, but there's nothing sweeter than a big swell on the northshore. The whole place comes alive and the sound of the waves rumbling you awake in the early AM ... sorry, its a little slice of heaven.

Then there's the joy of picking up a ground swell on the outside, positioning yourself just right as it jacks up on the reef and dropping in, all wound up wishing I picked the next smaller sail in my quiver than the one I'm on right now. (this is where my lifetime of picking to be powered up always comes back to haunt me) But I didn't and now I'm WAY committed. Bottom turn and I glance up to see where the wave will go critical and crap! Its way bigger than I thought and its gonna close out on me.... BIG TIME. Before I even contemplate the downside of my decision, I'm charging the lip headed for that sliver of light before the door slams shut in my face...

Monday, September 22, 2008

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Seriously, we drove for hours. First it was a drive to Two Rivers, where Josh has been skunked a few times before. I'm not sayin' he's jinxed, but alas, we didn't care for the fact that the kiters were on 12m's, although the swell was head high. We just weren't jonesin on the lack of wind. I didn't like the setup and figured the wind wasn't going to happen there, so we bailed north to Baileys' Harbor on a call from a friend who was sailing a 4.5 up there. (and the wind never did come up, so we left swell for wind...)

So, we drove.... and drove. Stopped at a few hopeful spots along the way up to see if we could score earlier and save drive time. Nada. Nothing. Nyet. See, the wind angle was just enough to turn side off and have no wind on the inside and also push any lake swell to well offshore.

So we continued north...

Finally, we ended up at Baileys - and yes, I was cranked on a 5.2 - Josh on a 5.7 and we sailed all the four boards we brought. But what was super odd was that for the wind we were sailing in, the swell was epic. Epic as in epic small. Mind blowing small.

I mean, it was silly. I'm getting rocked on a 5.2 (was thinking about 4.7 but it was late in the day) and I was hunting for sets that were chest high. Chest high!?!? I'm still shaking my head on this one. Offshore the buoys were 8 foot, but I felt like we were playing in the kiddie pool.

Not cool. Well, ok, it was cool. It was windy. We were sailing. I was smiling. Swell or no swell, it was still good to sail after all those miles. ;-)

The next day I was on a 5.7 in my backyard with decent waves and a lot of fun. Kinda sucked for my friends who hit the water with their kites only to have the wind shut off.

Sure Josh got to sail the lake - but nothing like what it can really produce.... perhaps next time. Still, a good time was had by all.

Plus - in 10 days we'll be in Maui. So, we're cool with that.

(And yes - we didn't take ONE sailing picture. Doh!)

And I just noticed South 15-25 for Tuesday... I might get a sesh in before my evening flight to L.A. .... Hmmm.....

Thursday, September 18, 2008

So, I'm in New York City at a trade show and the forecast for Friday (tomorrow) goes from 15-25 to possibly 30 knots, and now they have it at southerly gales to 35 knots. With air temps 75-80 and the lake 8-10 foot, its all the makings for a classic Lake Michigan fall day.

I'm hauling ass home tonight and a quick call to Josh and he's flying up tonight to experience the Lake in all its glory tomorrow.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Saturday, September 13, 2008

As promised, here are some shots of the 2009 RRD WaveTwin 99. Its very compact at 225x62 for its 99 liters.

In the wavetwin board line, its the largest in volume, but the shortest by far. While its technically the big board in the line, I think its a standalone shape purpose built for maximizing "real world waves" found by most sailors outside of Maui/Baja.

The 99 offers surprising upwind performance. I initially was worried about its upwind ability for side-on wavesailing on Lake Michigan where upwind capabilities are needed for survival. Not an issue. ;-)

Volume distribution lends lends to suffering on curve jibes - this might hamper true down the line wavesailing, but makes up for it with amazing tight capabilities that enable the sailor to make the most of ugly, unorganized waves.

The Wavetwin jumps really well - The outline of the board give amazing pop - giving higher aerials and more loft on high jumps.

In summary : This board isn't for everyone. It requires a different stance in getting the board to perform, and you have to your A game on at all times else the board can bite ya in the ass. Sailors who make the commitment will be rewarded with stellar performance in a compact package that will turn any light air wave day into a perma-grin sesh.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

So, I haul ass back from SF after a late night dinner with the Catapult and what do I find? Solid 5.7 weather with 6-8 foot swell at a home break which was a perfect first session test of the 09's RRD waveTwin 99 that I found waiting for me when I got off the plane today.

I'll post more about the board in the next day or two with photos and more detail.